Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour is one of the most picturesque parts of this seaside city in Western Australia. Attractions include a wide variety of restaurants, a brewery, short stay accommodation , function facilities, high speed jet boat rides, charter sailing tours, the Western Australian Maritime Museum Shipwreck Galleries, wonderful old buildings and much more.

The businesses all operate in the environment of a working harbour where there is a constant passing parade of fishing vessels and daily fishing industry activities. Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour is a unique tourist location and provides an array of very special visitor experiences.

Specialising in the best seafood the ocean has to offer, there is a wide cuisine range on offer from the many restaurants and cafés. The Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour is located in the heart of Fremantle – it is the home for over 400 fishing boats and surrounded by boardwalks, restaurants, cafes, bars entertainment and accommodation facilities.

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

It is late Winter here in the Southern hemisphere and it is surprising how many flowers are in full bloom in our garden. One of the most spectacular is the camellia, whose clear red blooms provide a cheerful note even during the grayest and coldest Winter's day. I think that this is a Camellia sasanqua 'Crimson King', however, I am not sure as the plant is quite old and I cannot remember its pedigree!

Sunday, 28 July 2013

A wallaby is any of about thirty species of Macropodidae family. It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise.

Forest-dwelling wallabies are known as "pademelons" (genus Thylogale) and "dorcopsises" (genera Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus). The name "wallaby" comes from the Eora, who were the first human inhabitants of the Sydney area. Young wallabies are known as "joeys", like many other marsupials. Adult male wallabies are referred to as "bucks", "boomers", or "jacks". An adult female wallaby is known as a "doe", "flyer", or "jill". A group of wallabies is called a "court", "mob", or "troupe".

Although members of most wallaby species are small, some can grow up to six feet in length (from head to tail).Wallabies are herbivores whose diet consists of a wide range of grasses, vegetables, leaves, and other foliage. Due to recent urbanisation, many wallabies now feed in rural and urban areas. Wallabies cover vast distances for food and water, which is often scarce in their environment. Mobs of wallabies often congregate around the same water hole during the dry season.

Their powerful hind legs are not only used for bounding at high speeds and jumping great heights, but also to administer vigorous kicks to fend off potential predators. Wallabies also have a powerful tail that is used mostly for balance and support.The tails are also known to knock even the strongest of predators with one tail whip.

Wallabies face several threats. Wild dogs, foxes, and feral cats are among the predators they face. Humans also pose a significant threat to wallabies due to increased interaction. Many wallabies have been involved in vehicular accidents as they often feed near roads and urban areas.

Luculia gratissima has rose pink flowers with a strong perfume, which is often described as being between a gardenia and a vanilla fragrance. The generic name, Luculia, is the Latinised form of the Nepalese name, Luculi Swa. The specific name, gratissima, is Latin for 'most pleasing'. Luculias are evergreen shrubs with rounded, often irregular growth habits. In the wild they are said to reach 6m but in cultivation they are usually around the 3-4m mark. In winter scented, pink flowers appear on the ends of the stems, in large clusters up to 20cm across.

Luculias grow well in a semi-shaded position (or a spot with protection from hot afternoon summer sun). A free-draining coarse soil with added organic material is best. They like a cool root zone, so keep the plant mulched. Do not let the soil dry out. Luculias resent root disturbance and don't like to be transplanted. During prolonged periods of heavy rain, spraying the foliage with a phosphorus acid product may help prevent root rot. Shoots that have been damaged by frost can be cut back to a pair of healthy leaves or buds in late winter to early spring, when the chance of frost is past. A light prune to remove spent flowers at this time will also help to shape the plant and keep it bushy. Luculias benefit from the occasional application of a small amount of lime, except in areas which have alkaline soils.

Thursday, 25 July 2013

As Winter progresses, we are seeing the appearance of the Australian native flowers coming into bloom. The spectacular wattles, the grevilleas, the eucalypts and a host of the smaller ground covers. This is a sure sign that Spring is not too far away.

This is Grevillea leiophylla 'Fairy Floss', an Australian native, small delicate shrub with fine green leaves that has pink spider flowers most of the year, but makes a fine show during late Winter to early Spring. It is bird attracting, drought resistant, fast growing, frost resistant and suitable for shape pruning.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Talbingo Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway across the Tumut River upstream of Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is the largest of sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro. The impounded reservoir is called Talbingo Reservoir.

Commenced in 1968 and completed in 1971, Talbingo Dam is a major dam on the Tumut River, within the Snowy Mountains, approximately 5 kilometres south of the village of Talbingo. The dam was constructed by Thiess Bros Pty Limited and, at the time, the project was the largest dam ever built in Australia. The dam is the largest and last of the sixteen dams completed as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. I flew to Sydney for the day today and these photos were taken from the plane.

The Google map image is the first image below to identify the location. The last two photos show that the "Snowy Mountains" are true to name!

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Stellaria media, chickweed, is a cool-season annual plant native to Europe, which is often eaten by chickens. It is sometimes called common chickweed to distinguish it from other plants called chickweed. Other common names include chickenwort, craches, maruns, winterweed. The plant germinates in fall or late winter, then forms large mats of foliage. Flowers are tiny and white, followed quickly by the seed pods. This plant flowers and sets seed at the same time.

Stellaria media is delicious, edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku. The plant has medicinal purposes and is used in folk medicine. It has been used as a remedy to treat itchy skin conditions and pulmonary diseases. 17th century herbalist John Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Modern herbalists mainly prescribe it for skin diseases, and also for bronchitis, rheumatic pains, arthritis and period pain. A poultice of chickweed can be applied to cuts, burns and bruises. Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence.

Saturday, 20 July 2013

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae (the "true" or wall lizards), they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha. With about 1200 described species, the Scincidae are the second most diverse family of lizards, exceeded only by the Gekkonidae (geckos).

Friday, 19 July 2013

Flying in to Perth in a recent trip, we flew into some stormy clouds as we were approaching the airport. Sure enough, when we landed, the heavens opened and the big wet came. I didn't think this photo would come out as it was all quite dark and the plane was moving, but it seems to have captured the moment.

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Spathiphyllum is a genus of about 40 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas and southeastern Asia. Certain species of Spathiphyllum are commonly known as Spath, Cobra Lilies or Peace Lilies.

They are evergreen herbaceous perennial plants with large leaves 12–65 cm long and 3–25 cm broad. The flowers are produced in a spadix, surrounded by a 10–30 cm long, white, yellowish, or greenish spathe. The plant is hardy does not need large amounts of light or water to survive.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Zakynthos or Zante (from Venetian) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its only municipality. It covers an area of 410 km2 and its coastline is roughly 123 km in length. The island is named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. Zakynthos has a thriving tourism industry.

The most famous landmark of the island is the Navagio beach. It is a cove on the southwest (northwest near village of Anafonitiria) shore, isolated by high cliffs and accessible only by boat. The beach and sea floor are made of white pebbles, and surrounded by turquoise waters. It is named after a shipwreck (MV Panagiotis), which sank near the shore around 1980 and then ended up on the beach.

Numerous "Blue Caves", are cut into cliffs around Cape Skinari, and accessible only by small boats. Sunrays reflect through blue sea water from white stones of cave bottoms and walls, creating interesting effects. The whole western shore contains numerous interesting rock formations, particularly arches. Northern and eastern shores also have some wide sandy beaches, many of which are packed with tourists in summer months.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Chaenomeles is a genus of three species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. These plants are related to the quince (Cydonia oblonga) and the Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), differing in the serrated leaves, and in the flowers having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and have a serrated margin. The flowers are 3–4.5 cm diameter, with five petals, and are usually bright orange-red, but can be white or pink; flowering is in late winter or early spring. The fruit is a pome with five carpels; it ripens in late autumn.

Although all quince species have flowers, gardeners in the West often refer to these species as "flowering quince", since Chaenomeles are grown ornamentally for their flowers, not for their fruits. These plants have also been called "Japanese quince", and the name "japonica" (referring to C. japonica) was widely used for these plants in the 19th and 20th centuries, although this common name is not particularly distinctive, since japonica is a specific epithet shared by many other plants. The names "japonica" or "Japanese quince" were (and still are) often loosely applied to Chaenomeles in general, regardless of their species. The most commonly cultivated Chaenomeles referred to as "japonica" are actually the hybrid C. × superba and C. speciosa; C. japonica itself is not as commonly grown.

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Living in a big city one can become completely lost in the concrete and glass of modern high rise buildings. In Melbourne we are experiencing an upsurge in the construction of such monstrosities and what was a large but liveable city is now fast becoming a pullulating megalopolis, cold and grey.